I Got A Kiss Of The King's Hand
Robinson McClellan
About this work:
This piece is an arrangement of a piobaireachd (or pibroch), a tune for the Scottish Highland bagpipes from the tradition known as Ceol Mor, or "great music". This collection of tunes is often called the "classical" music of the bagpipes, and is distinct from the more widely known "small music", which consists of the dance tunes, airs, and marches most often associated with the bagpipes.
A typical pibroch begins with the "urlar", or "ground", which is the primary tune. This theme is then distilled to its basic structure and subjected to a series of variations in which increasingly complex ornaments are added. A pibroch is often 10 minutes or longer, and is played with no fixed meter or beat. The tunes are unhurried and notes are often held out, with emphasis placed on the sonorities between the notes and the drone. Most piobaireachds were composed in the 18th century and earlier. For most of their history they were transmitted from teacher to student by means of a kind of solfege system in which each pitch, and each type of ornament, has a distinct syllable.
Most pibrochs have a story attached, which may or may not be strictly true. The tune "I got a kiss of the King's hand”, has this origin: “[The Macleods] raised a thousand men for Charles II, against Cromwell. Before the battle of Worcester, 1651, in which the Macleods were decimated, Padruig Mor had played before the King and had been given the honor of kissing his hand. He wrote this piobaireachd.” (From The History and Structure of Ceol Mor by Alexander Haddow.)
In arranging the tune, I was careful not to obscure the aesthetic and structure of the original pibroch too much. So, aside from increased dissonance, use of multiple voices, and some cuts to bring the overall length down, it should give a good sense of what the original tune sounds like. This effort also informed my choice of oboes and english horn, which are close relatives of the bagpipe chanter.
The piece was recorded at Yale on March 27th, 2005 by
Michael Barnett: Oboe 1
Sarah Schram: Oboe 2
Karisa Werdon: Oboe 3
Kevin May: English Horn
Special thanks also to Jacob Cooper, who helped me with the recording and mixing equipment, and without whom I couldn't have done this recording.
Year composed: 2005
Duration: 00:07:15
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 2-5 players
Instrumentation: 3 Oboe, 1 English Horn
Instrumentation notes: This piece requires a drone, which can be created by any instrument or machine which can be set to play automatically and continuously throughout the piece. Its tone should be rich and highly resonant, with audible, ringing overtones and no vibrato.